Monday, October 10, 2011

A Long Weekend in Pictures and Words

I know that blogs are suppose to be about how super fun awesome our lives our are, but sometimes life isn't so awesome. Some days are pretty soul crushing. One such day was last Friday. I am a firm believer in being allowed your feelings, so I was bound and determined to take a couple days and just be sad. Thanks goodness for long holiday weekends. So I was sad. I cried. I pouted. I played sad songs on the harmonica. But I also discovered ways to make a crap situation better:1. See Henry Rollins speak. I know that 98%, who I am kidding, 100% of my known blog readership has no clue who Henry Rollins is, but I do, and that's all that matters right now. Henry is a legendary punk rocker, writer, and photographer. I was basically out the door on Friday to see him speak on photography when my soul got crushed. I did considered not going, but I ended up throwing on my biggest pair of sunglasses to hide my puffy from crying eyes and went into the city. I'm glad that I did. Henry showed pictures from his new photography book, Occupants and told the stories behind them. These are not pictures of flowers and butterflies. He went to some of the most battered and bruised parts of the world; Iran, the killing fields in Cambodia, the slums of India, the rubble of Haiti. It was all about finding life in the midst of suffering. Hope, in the middle of desolation. At the end, during the Q &A, Henry while answering a question from the audience said, "Be bold. Don't be afraid to live your life."

We weren't suppose to take pictures, but as the program was ending, I sneaked a blurring picture off my phone. If you know H.R. you can totally tell its him. Local legend Ian MacKaye was there too, and my punk rock heart exploded. 2. Get awesome texts from friends

Look at me, figuring out how to take screen shots off my iPhone.3. Eat ice cream in bed while watching The King of Kong, shouting Steeeeeeeeveeee Wieeeeeeebeeeee! at appropriate parts throughout the documentary.

Also, do a lot of rock star jumps in the air while listening to said music. I didn't get a picture of that. You're welcome.The Ducky Boys is one of my favorite bands to listen to when I need help getting out of the gutter of life. I accidently saw them once when I was in Boston a million years ago, the General and I still talk about how great that show was. Their new album doesn't comes out until January, but I just pre-ordered it, on vinyl. Cannot. Wait. 7. Take a deep breath in nature. Some friends dragged me out to see the Fall leaves in Shenandoah. I was cranky pants the whole ride over. I seriously sat in the back seat, with my arms folded and didn't say a word. Then we pulled over when we saw this tree:

And then someone asked me about my latest trip to Boston, and then they couldn't get me to shut my mouth. 8. Do a breakfast run to Sonic, in a car, don't actually run there with your feet.

This may sound lame if you are one of those people that actually has a Sonic in your town. We don't. The closest Sonic is an hour + away. But sometimes you need a strawberry limeade in a cup so big that you need both hands to hold it.

9. Work on a project that you have been putting off. There is something to say about being productive. I have been meaning to sun print some fabric for awhile now. It is basically using the sun to fade designs onto fabric. Maybe I'll get around to writing a whole post about it. For a first attempt it was ok, I want to try it again doing a couple to things differently.

I used roses

10. Watch the Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 17 times in a row. I know that since his death it has been overly played and overly posted and overly quoted, but I still love it. I still feel the truth of it in my bones.Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become.

**I didn't write this post fishing for pity about having a bad day. I know we all have them. I know that people have way worse days than I did. And the whys behind my bad day probably aren't all that important now either. I think it is realizing that some of the lows in life are as important as the highs. Or that one day isn't the end of the world. Or something like that.

4 comments
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What a great weekend! :) I Love so much about your weekend AND I might need to get a recipe for that chocolate pumpkin butter. Yes, I am living up my nearness to Sonic lately. I've had 3 strawberry limeades this week. OH and I super love that quote from Steve Jobs.